Has it been this fishhead-loaded miso that has changed your life such that the thought of you with a mullet (or with any kind of cranial hirsuteness whatsoever, come to think of it) defines the concept of cognitive dissonance?

And before anybody wonders what the above means, keep in mind that this was dictated to me by Smidgen, and therefore my interpretation of what that says supersedes any translation into Japanese or other languages, such as English.

That actually sounds rather good.

The stuff inside a prawn's head (and inside a lobster's, crab's and similar) is often called 'miso' also. But 'nou miso' apparantly has a wider meaning than just this. What I'm learning now is that, in the 80s at least, when raw it was often topped with mullet.

Nah, just a getting back on topic measure. What defines cognitive dissonance for me with specific reference to this discussion, disregarding for the moment the diminishing hirsuteness of my parsing engine and contextualizer container, is that a mullet as enhanced as only a Supercuts feathered brushback can enhance it would have seemed in any way less than completely and utterly absurd at any point in time. The photographs do not lie, but oh how they make me chortle.

When construing the meaning above, reference shall be made to the orginal Japanese however, and the understood meaning shall neither take nor give precedence to either langauge.

Bah, Japanese soups...Something got lost on the way from China via Korea.

I'd LOVE to learn about other recipes that can make such a delicious and versatile broth using just 3 (or less) ingredients and in under 10 minutes cooking time.

Do you know of any?

Ah, it's a nice and simple soup but no match to the rich flavours of many Chinese broths. Maybe the comparison would be similar than Italian (Japanese) to French (Chinese) with Korean (Spanish?) in-between?

Spanish 'between' French & Italian? Sorry, that doesn't work at all (for a start, there's Spain's Muslim culinary heritage, but I could go on. And on, and on).

As far as I understood, the origins of dashi are humble, merely dried bonito shavings steeped in water. The addition of kombu, and, one presumes, miso came later.

I certainly don't belittle the enormous influence China has had on the foods of the countries that surround it (Italy certainly owes a string of debts to this great nation) but when it comes to dashi and miso soups you might as well say:

"Bah, something got lost on the way from India via China and, perhaps, Korea."

The popularity of grain and bean misos in Japan being more of a lifestyle decision based on the popularity/influential power of Buddhism than a preference for the actual food.

My own analogy would be different - it's like you've compared breakfasts, miso soup being this (developed to suit diets of abstinence), the Chinese soups you're comparing dashi based broths to being this.


Dashi reminds me of a Zen stone garden. The genius of this broth isn't what's in it, it's what isn't.

Miso soup you get at a sushi shop is called "aka dashi". It's definitely darker and more flavorful than "regular" miso shiru.

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I tend to use darker misos myself (traditionally made kinds wherever possible), so I thought that 'aka dashi' was just miso soup made with the red (aka) variety of miso, hence the 'stronger' taste.

Is it your experience that sushi shops usually serve this kind of miso soup? And if so, is it limited to sushi shops in a certain price range?

I know that konacha (a strong tasting green tea made from the powder/leavings of sencha production) is the typical brew of the sushi-ya. However, I hadn't experienced/noticed that red miso was usual for making the soup. But then I don't go to many kaiten sushi places.

Can you expound? I'm rather curious for your view on this.

Must be a price range I'm not used to. I usually find akadashi (either with asari or with nameko) at tempura restaurants.

My own experience has been that the sushi shops will often have both an akadashi for thems that likes the more fermented red style (I think that is why it is stronger) and something more mild for those with a yen for the more more sappari flavor. Sometimes both are not available the same day but are will be offered on different days.

I still think a good Shirasu pizza is the answer for the discerning palate though. Of course that brings into question the Italian vs. the Japanese position in the pecking prder to which earlier reference was made.

Mike

If it helps, whilst clearing out a cupboard the other day I used nagaimo to make an okonomiyaki style dish with fistfuls of crumbled Calbee Pizza potato chips (the kind flavoured with snotty gobs of processed cheese). Another fine, and rather exciting, example to add to the expansive range of fusion cooking classics currently revitalising these tired, derivative 'underdog' cuisines.

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You fed that to the dog? I'm calling the RSPCA.

Whether an underdog or a superdog... Dogs are people too, dontcha know?